Monday, 17 June 2013

Anthea's Anthologies

Anthos was the Greek for flower. Thus Antheios meant flowery. And thus the goddess Hera, who was often associated with flowers, got the byname Antheia. This name was revived in the seventeenth century by the poet Robert Herrick who wanted a nice classical sounding name for a love poem. So he wrote To Anthea, who may Command Him Anything. It begins:

Bid me to live, and I will live Thy Protestant to be; Or bid me love, and I will give A loving heart to thee.

(Protestant there means one who vows or protests his loyalty).

Anyway, anthos has found its way into the language in other words. Chrysanthemums are golden flowers. Acanthuses are thorny flowers. And anthologies are books of flowers.

Sometimes anthologies are actual bouquets of flowers. Sometimes anthologies are literal books of flowers. And sometimes anthologies are books of the flowers of literature, the finest poems plucked from the muses' field and collected into one volume. A flower book.

And an anthomaniac is somebody who's mad about flowers, or girls called Anthea.

Taste the Elements of Eloquence

The Horologicon is out in America

The Horologicon is a book of the strangest and most beautiful words in the English language arranged by the hour of the day when you will really need them. Words for breakfast, for commuting, for working, for dining, for drinking and for getting lost on the way home. It runs from uhtceare (sadness before dawn) to curtain lecture (a telling off given by your spouse in bed). It's out all over the world and you can buy it from these lovely people: